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S C R A P S
2.0
"Back-up Your Brain"
Program and documentation
(C) Copyright Raymond Lowe 1991, 1992
All Rights Reserved
Scraps
P.O. Box 2
Cheung Chau, N.T.,
Hong Kong
Disclaimer
Raymond Lowe makes no warranty of any kind, neither express nor
implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of
fitness for any particular purpose nor of security of operation,
with respect to this software and accompanying documentation.
IN NO EVENT SHALL RAYMOND LOWE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUD-
ING FINES, CRIMINAL DAMAGES OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS OR OTHER LOSS
OF ANY KIND) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR OPERATION (WHETHER CORRECT
OR INCORRECT) OF THIS PROGRAM OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM,
EVEN IF RAYMOND LOWE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.
License
A limited license is hereby granted to COPY this program, the
accompanying associated utilities and sample files and
documentation (THE PACKAGE) provided that it is not modified in
any way. The package may be repacked in a different form
provided the contents remains the same. Additional quick start
("GO.BAT") files may be added to the package.
A limited license is further granted to USE the package for a
trial period, not to exceed 30 days (consecutive or otherwise),
for the sole purpose of determining whether the package is
suitable for your use. Should you decide that it is suitable for
your use and wish to continue using it after the trial period
then you are REQUIRED to obtain a full license by REGISTERING the
package.
Credits.
OMOUSE by John W. Small of PSW/Power Software. EXECSWAP by Kim
Kokkonen of TurboPower Software. LZEXE by Fabrice BELLARD. DESQ42
by James H. LeMay of Eagle Performance Software. DESQview is a
trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Windows is trademark of
Microsoft. Other products named may be trademarks of their
owners.
S C R A P S Page: 2
Table of Contents
-----------------
SECTION ONE
Introduction ..............................................4
Shareware .................................................5
This Manual ...............................................6
The Metaphor ..............................................7
SECTION TWO
Installation ..............................................9
Using Scraps .............................................11
Help within Scraps .......................................12
Hints on usage ...........................................13
SECTION THREE
Reminders and Alarms .....................................15
/R switch ..............................................16
SAlarm .................................................16
ScrDV ..................................................17
ScrWIN..................................................17
Appointment Calendar .....................................19
ToDo List ................................................21
SECTION FOUR
Import and Export ........................................23
Import Scrap ...........................................23
Export Scrap ...........................................23
Export Group ...........................................23
Import Group............................................24
Importing YOUR information ...............................25
dBase phone directory ..................................25
Word processor files ...................................26
Security .................................................27
Password ...............................................27
Scrap encryption .......................................27
Projects .................................................28
Application launcher .....................................29
SECTION FIVE
Scraps with task switchers ...............................30
Country specific settings ................................31
The Menus ................................................32
Error messages ...........................................36
ScrFix utility ...........................................39
Support ..................................................41
The Interface ............................................42
Registering ..............................................48
Sysop deal .............................................49
Commercial Scraps ........................................50
S C R A P S Page: 3
SECTION ONE
"Introduction"
Scraps is a Freeform Personal Information Manager (PIM) for your
PC. You can use Scraps to store all those odd facts and bits of
information that you come across in your busy life. Scraps will
then give you rapid access to those facts.
Features:
* Free text database. Every word in the database is `indexed'
for retrieval.
* Powerful search functions using the Boolean operators AND
and/or OR.
* Fast and simple text editor with block operations,
import/export. Supports direct import of common word
processor files.
* Common User Access style Pull-down menu interface with
dialogue boxes. All fully mouse controllable.
* Reminders associated with text entries accurate to the
minute. Option to automatically search for due reminders at
program startup.
* External SAlarm module for reminder alarms even while not
running Scraps.
* DESQview specific alarm module provides advanced alarm
support for DV users.
* Microsoft Windows specific alarm module provides advanced
alarm support for Windows users.
* Calculator with `tape' * Telephone dialer * DOS shell *
ToDo List * Application launcher * Appointment Calendar
* Password security and data encryption * Full Context
Sensitive Help.
Safety First!
-------------
Scraps is the only PIM with a data file designed to allow
retrieval of data even from badly damaged data files using the
supplied ScrFIX utility.
S C R A P S Page: 4
Shareware
---------
Scraps is a user supported or "Shareware" package.
Shareware is a new way of buying software. With Shareware you as
the buyer can thoroughly evaluate software before making your
purchase decision.
You are granted a licence for a 30 day trial period during which
you may use Scraps to decide if you want to use it permanently.
By distributing programs via the Shareware system software
authors avoid the high overheads involved in conventional
commercial distribution. These savings are passed on to you, the
buyer, in the form of low registration fees.
Shareware is not free software. Shareware is copyright software
just like the packages you buy in shops, you must pay for it if
you use it. All copyright laws apply to Shareware as they do to
programs distributed through other channels.
It is only through your registration that the author receives any
support for his work. So if, following your evaluation of the
Shareware software, you choose to continue using please pay the
registration fee to the author. Not only does it support the
author but it also gives you a legal licence to use the software.
Any fees you may have paid to a Shareware distributor to obtain
the Shareware package on a disk is a copying fee and does not
constitute registering. The author does not receive any part of
the copying fee; registration fees must be paid directly to the
author.
If, following the evaluation period, you decide that the software
is inappropriate for your needs then you must stop using it. In
which cause you will not have to pay anything to the author. At
any later time you are free to pay the registration fee to
receive a licence to use the software.
Shareware differs from `conventional' software only in the
distribution method used.
While the author retains full copyright on the program, and
reserves all rights, to allow for Shareware distribution, a
universal licence is granted to copy and distribute the software.
You are free to copy the software and to share it with others
regardless of whether you use it yourself.
See the section on Registering for details on how to obtain your
full licence.
S C R A P S Page: 5
This Manual
-----------
This manual contains both basic and advanced information on how
to use Scraps. It is divided into five sections:
Section One consists of this introduction. Section Two will help
you install Scraps to your satisfaction and to start using it.
Section Three explains some of the other useful, but optional,
features available in Scraps. Section Four contains details of
the more advanced Scraps functions. Section Five contains
reference material.
Much of the material in this manual is duplicated in the Scraps
on-line help system where it is available at the press of a
single key.
Once you have read Sections One and Two you can go on to use
Scraps using only the on-line help system when you need
assistance.
Having a full print-out of the manual, particularly sections Four
and Five, may be of use to you in the future when you are more
familiar with the system and want to get more out of it.
Section Five explains how to deal with any error messages or
problems you may have when running Scraps.
S C R A P S Page: 6
The Metaphor
------------
To understand how Scraps works and, more important, how best to
use it, it is helpful to have a physical `metaphor' or analogy.
Imagine a big pile of small scraps of paper. Each piece of paper
has some important bit of information written on it. Most pieces
are quite small but some are largish, holding up to a thousand
words or so.
Imagine an assistant who's full-time job it is to manage these
pieces of paper.
When you come across a significant piece of information; an
appointment, an address or telephone number, the command to do a
DOS backup, the name of your next door neighbor's dog or any
other piece of information you might want to recall, you write it
down on a scrap of paper which you hand to your assistant.
Items that you need to be reminded of, the date of the next board
meeting, your mother's birthday and so on, you also note down
together with a date on which you want be reminded. These you
also hand to your assistant.
Some time later you say to your assistant; "Get me everything you
have on Johnson and the Xyz project" or you say "Anything I
should be reminded of right now?" Your assistant finds and hands
you a small bundle of appropriate notes to read.
Enter Scraps
------------
Imagine all that. Now imagine that we throw everything - pieces
of paper and the assistant too - into your PC, and now you have
Scraps.
Except that now the pieces of paper never get rumpled or smudged,
are never lost behind your desk or thrown away accidentally, and
your assistant never rests, asks for a raise or goes on holidays.
Scraps is an invaluable tool for the busy professional who deals
with large amounts of unstructured information.
A note on PIMs
--------------
There are many different programs that fall into the category of
Personal Information Managers. An important division among them
is between Structured and Freeform PIMs.
S C R A P S Page: 7
Scraps is very much a Freeform PIM. It leaves it up to you how
you should arrange your information and how much structure you
should place on it.
On the one hand this gives you much greater freedom, but on the
other it lacks some of the convenience of a structured approach.
If your life is filled with PostIts and notes written on the
backs of envelopes, your desk covered with aging newspaper
cuttings and notebooks full of ideas, and your hard disk full of
captured E-Mail messages then you will find that Scraps can
finally bring some organization to your information.
Take advantage of the 30 trial licence granted to you under the
Shareware system to see if Scraps is your kind of PIM!
S C R A P S Page: 8
SECTION TWO
"Getting started"
Installation
------------
Files
-----
The Scraps package consists of the following files;
SCRAPS.COM The main program file.
SCRAPS.DAT A dummy file.
SCRFIX.COM A utility.
SCRAPS.DOC This documentation file.
SCRAPS.HLP The Scraps help file.
REGISTER.FRM Registration form.
README Startup instructions.
README.BAT File to display the README file.
SCRAPS.PIF Default Scraps setup for Windows.
SC-PIF.DVP Default Scraps setup for DESQview.
INSTALL.EXE Automatic installation program.
SAMPLES.DAT Set of example data.
STARTING.DOC A "quick start" abstract of the manual.
TUTORIAL.DOC Tutorial manual.
SCRDV.EXE DESQview specific alarm module.
SA-PIF.DVP DV configuration for SCRDV.EXE.
SCRWIN.EXE Windows 3 specific alarm module.
If you do not have all these files please go back to the source
where you found this file and obtain all parts of the package
before continuing.
Installation and Setup
----------------------
The Scraps Install program will take care of installation for
you, and do a lot more besides. Just run INSTALL.EXE and select
the appropriate options from the menu.
You may choose to make a special directory for Scraps, such as
C:\SCRAPS, or it can happily run from any convenient directory.
The supplied SCRAPS.DAT data file on the distribution disk is a
dummy showing that Scraps is not yet installed. Scraps will
automatically replace it with the set of sample data in
SAMPLES.DAT if you try to run it with the dummy file still in
place.
S C R A P S Page: 9
If you use Windows, DESQview or a task switcher then you may want
to install Scraps as one of the programs that can be run from
that environment. Default settings files for using Scraps with
Windows and DESQview are supplied.
Configuring Scraps
------------------
Once you have installed Scraps on your hard disk you can run it
right away. To get the most out of it you'll want to adjust some
of the configurable settings to your likings.
You can just brows through the options available on the SetUp
menu or read the list of set up option in Section Five of this
manual.
* See also the STARTING.DOC manual for other installation options
such as manual floppy disk or hard disk installation.
S C R A P S Page: 10
Using Scraps
------------
Using Scraps couldn't be simpler. All you have to do is to type
in information, in any order and in any format. Typing just as
you would in your word processor.
Each piece of text you type is a `scrap', each scrap is of length
limited only by memory (free memory is displayed on the About box
from the Help menu).
The heart of the program is the Find command, this quickly allows
you to search for scraps containing a particular word or phrase.
Scraps that have been found are all gathered into a `Group'. A
group is not a permanent entity, it simply describes the
collection of scraps you have just found.
You may view the scraps in a group by paging backward and
forwards through the group with the GREY Plus and Minus keys.
There is always one blank scrap, the `New' scrap, for you to
enter new data on. The new scrap is not a part of the data file
until it is explicitly saved. Other scraps are all stored in the
data file and any changes are saved as soon as you move to
another scrap.
The 'scrap editor' which you use to enter, view and change scraps
is a kind of mini-word processor. For large or complex pieces of
text you may choose to use your normal word processor or text
editor. Then use the editor 'import' command to read the text
into the scrap editor.
Every scrap, and all the information used by the Scraps program,
is saved into a single data file called SCRAPS.DAT. This file is
always stored in the same directory as the Scraps program files.
The data file also contains a proprietary indexing system, this
is what allows the scraps to be searched at high speed for any
word or phrase.
The Scraps program also has a set of handy built-in tools
including ToDo List, Calculator and Phone Dialer. You'll read
more about them in the next section of the manual.
If you feel uncomfortable with the way the menus and options work
in Scraps read the part of the manual entitled "The Interface"
for general instructions on how to get around the menus and
dialogue boxes.
At any time press the F1 key to receive Context Sensitive Help.
S C R A P S Page: 11
Help within Scraps
------------------
Scraps has two systems of Help. The first is the Help Menu which
contains a number of help topics.
Read the help various help topics for instructions and tips on
how to make the best use of Scraps.
Secondly there is `Context sensitive help'. This is pages of
help that relate directly to the particular part of Scraps that
you are using.
At any time you may press the F1 key to receive context sensitive
help about the part of Scraps you are using.
To access the Help Menu first pull down the menu by typing Alt-H.
That means hold down the key marked 'Alt' and type the letter
'H'.
When the menu has pulled down you may select one of the items by
pressing the key corresponding to the highlighted letter in the
topic name. Alternately you may move the selection bar to the
topic using the up and down arrows and then selecting it with the
Enter key.
Once selected the help appears in a box in the middle of the
screen. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys, marked PgUp and PgDn
to move through the help screen. Use the Escape key to remove
the help screen.
To use the Context Sensitive Help press the F1 key while working
in Scraps. A help window will appear with information about the
menu item or field you are currently using. Use the Escape key
to remove the help screen when you are finished.
S C R A P S Page: 12
Hints on usage
--------------
As a freeform data base Scraps relieves you of the straight-
jacket imposed by most data base programs but, at the same time,
it takes away a lot of the structure and safeguards with which
you may be familiar. To help you get the best out of Scraps here
are some hints on usage.
Keep retrieval in mind
----------------------
The real importance of the stored information is not the storing
but the retrieving of it. That being the case it is worth always
considering how you might want to look something up when you
enter it.
Use standard words
------------------
Sprinkle your scraps liberally with standard keywords, pick those
words yourself so they make sense to you. For example you might
choose to put the word "PHONE" in every scrap that contains a
telephone number, and "ADDRESS" in ones that holds an address.
This ensures that you will not fail to find something because you
used a term in the scrap different to that which you are using to
search for it.
Throw in keywords
-----------------
When several different words can be used to describe a key
concept put all of them into the scrap. In a scrap about cheap
airline tickets type "AIR PLANE AIRPLANE CHEAP ECONOMY TICKETS
FARES" across the bottom of the scrap. That way you can be sure
that you'll find the scrap when you need it, regardless of how
you ask for it.
Use project keywords
--------------------
If you have a whole bunch of scraps revolving around a single
task or project try putting a standard code word in each. Every
scrap about the West District Housing Project might have "WDHP"
or "WESTHOUSING" in it. That way you can quickly find all the
those scraps by searching for this key word.
S C R A P S Page: 13
By using an invented word or acronym you can be sure that no
other scrap will accidentally happen to include the word.
Scraps as an index
------------------
Scraps is best used to deal with lots of small items. If you
have some very big documents you may find it better to leave
those as word processor files and write a small scrap for each
file that states the subject of that files and where it is.
When used in this way Scraps becomes an index system to your
files. This allows it to maintain the high speed you get from
only having short scraps while still letting you find you data
when you need it.
S C R A P S Page: 14
SECTION THREE
"Other features"
Reminders and Alarms
--------------------
Scraps allows you to specify a reminder date and time for any
scrap. You can then search for scraps with reminders within a
set range or reminders that are now due. Scraps can also be set
to give audible alarms when a reminder becomes due.
Reminder alarms can also be heard while outside of Scraps by
making use of the SAlarm module or, while in DESQview, the ScrDV
module or while in Windows using the ScrWIN module.
Reminders
---------
When a scrap is first saved you may enter a reminder date or, at
any later time, you can use the Set reminder function from the
Scrap menu to set, change or remove the reminder.
To remove a reminder set the reminder field to blank by using the
delete or backspace keys.
At any time you can run the Find reminders for Now command from
the Find menu to locate due reminders. This function is
performed automatically if you run Scraps with the /R switch or
set the "Check for reminders at startup" in the Setup Scraps
dialogue box.
Alarms
------
Scraps provides for audible alarms when a reminder becomes due.
There is no audible alarm on an overdue reminder, only on those
as they become due, though overdue reminders are found and shown
by the Find for Now command.
If you set on the "Alarm on due reminder" option on the Setup
Scraps dialogue box then Scraps will chime when a reminder is due
and display a warning box. Inside the DESQview multitasking
environment the Scraps window will become the topmost window in
the system.
S C R A P S Page: 15
While outside Scraps you can still have alarms if you load one of
the three external alarm modules.
1) SAlarm is a TSR program for use in normal DOS
environments. Load it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT to have alarms
regardless of what program you are running. See details
below.
2) ScrDV is a DESQview specific program that provides the
functions of SAlarm plus features that take advantage of the
DV multitasking environment. See details below.
3) ScrWIN is a Microsoft Windows 3 specific program that
provides the functions of SAlarm plus features that take
advantage of the Windows multitasking environment. See
details below.
Before Scraps or SAlarm can generate alarms they must be loaded
with the reminder date and times. This is done by doing a "check
for reminders" either using the Find for Now function, the "Check
for reminders at startup" setting or the /R switch.
/R switch
---------
If you run Scraps with the /R switch it will load and go into the
check for due reminders function. If due reminders are found
then it will display them, if none are found then it will exit at
once.
This function allows you to place SCRAPS/R in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file so Scraps will run and check for due reminders every time
you boot the PC. Yet if there are no reminders due your PC will
not be held up.
The switch can also by used to set the SAlarm external chime
feature.
As well as checking for Scraps Reminders the /R switch also
checks for any Appointment Calendar entries for the current half
hour slot.
SAlarm
------
SAlarm is an external feature of Scraps that allows you to have
reminder chimes even when you are using some other program.
So if you set a reminder in Scraps for 1:30 and at that time you
are using your word processor or database program you will still
hear the reminder chime telling you that a scrap is due.
S C R A P S Page: 16
SALARM.EXE is the program that provides this feature. It is a
Terminate and Stay Resident program (TSR) that is loaded into
your PC memory and stays there until you reboot your PC.
When the appropriate time comes it will chime. Before it can
chime it must be SET with the date and times of reminder.
To set SALARM run Scraps and do a search for due reminders. The
simplest way to do this is to run SCRAPS/R.
You may set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file the lines;
C:\SCRAPS\SALARM
C:\SCRAPS\SCRAPS/R
to cause this to happen automatically. The Scraps Install
program will set this automatically for you if you choose.
Once SAlarm has chimed the next alarm will be set. Each time the
Scraps/R (or equivalent) is run the next 19 alarms are loaded
into SAlarm.
The SAlarm chime is disabled while you are in Scraps, so if you
also want to receive chimes when Scraps is running you must set
the "Alarm on due reminder" option on.
After installing SAlarm you may run it again to see what the next
due alarm is.
ScrDV
-----
ScrDV.EXE is a module designed to provide advanced alarm
functions while you are in the DESQview multitasking environment.
Run ScrDV using the supplied SA-PIF.DVP to open a small window,
in terms of memory used, that will constantly monitor the Scraps
reminders.
It always displays the next due reminder.
When a reminder becomes due ScrDV will chime and try to run
Scraps/R in a new window. If it fails, normally due to not
enough memory, it will make itself the top window.
ScrWIN
------
ScrWIN.EXE is a module designed to provide advanced alarm
functions while you are in the Windows multitasking environment.
S C R A P S Page: 17
Run ScrWIN to open a small window that will constantly monitor
the Scraps reminders.
It always displays the next due reminder.
When a reminder becomes due ScrWIN will chime and prompt you to
load Scraps/R in a new window.
S C R A P S Page: 18
Appointment Calendar
--------------------
The Tools\Appointment Calendar tool provides a basic calendar
that allows you to note your appointments in a structured format.
All items entered into the appointment calendar will cause an
alarm when due if one of the alarm systems is being used, see the
section on alarms and reminders.
Month view
----------
The main calendar view is a whole month view.
To enter an appointment move the cursor to select a day and press
Enter. Or double click on the day with the mouse.
Move to a new month with PageUp and PageDown, Ctrl-PageUp and
Ctrl-PageDown move one year.
In each day box the dots show available appointment hours between
6:00am and 9:30pm in hourly blocks, the top row showing the
morning and the lower the afternoon.
Small dots indicate free hours while large dots denote used
hours.
To erase old appointment entries use the F4 key to purge. Either
one day or all dates before a specified day can be purged.
Entering appointments
---------------------
To enter appointments select the appropriate day and press Enter
or double click with the mouse. This brings up the day view for
the particular day.
Each day is divided into time slots of half hour increments,
enter appointments in the appropriate time slots. Each entry
will produce one alarm sound if the "Alarm on reminder" option is
on, or if SAlarm is used.
Edit or delete appointments as required using the normal cursor
controls.
Use TAB and Shift-TAB to move between half-hourly slots.
S C R A P S Page: 19
Finding appointments
--------------------
Appointment Find scans through appointments starting at the
current day and moving either forward or backward for a
particular string inside the appointment calendar. The search is
not case sensitive. Enter the date you wish to start at then
select forward or backward search direction before selecting OK.
Press F10 on the date field for a pop-up calendar to
point-and-shoot dates. Time must be entered in military (24
hour) format. The search will move the cursor to the
appropriate day, press Enter to view the appointments for that
day.
Purging
-------
Occasionally it is necessary to purge old appointments from the
system. Purging removes (deletes) all appointment calendar
entries for the specified day or days.
Enter either the date you wish to purge, or the day up until
which you wish to purge. Then select one or the other option
before selecting OK.
Example:
To delete appointments for the day 01/01/92 enter this date and
then select "This date only".
To delete all appointments occurring before 01/01/92 (e.g. those
in 1991 and before) enter this date and select "Before this
date".
All entries which you purge from the appointment calendar are
saved to a text file called APPOINT.TXT located in the Scraps
directory for archival purposes.
S C R A P S Page: 20
ToDo List
---------
The ToDo list option from the Tools menu gives access to the
Scraps ToDo List manager. This is a complete application within
Scraps that provides all the facilities to create, maintain, view
and print lists of tasks to be done.
This ToDo list tool provides a structured way of keeping track of
tasks you need to perform. This is in contrast to the
unstructured, freeform, way in which Scraps Reminders can be used
to track things you need to do.
Items may be added to the list by pressing the Insert key or `A'
for Add.
Existing items can be edited by moving the selection bar to the
item and pressing Enter.
When an item is done it can be deleted by pressing the Delete key
or `D' for Delete. Deleted entries are saved into a text file
named TODO.TXT located in the current directory for archival
purposes.
Any to do item may have an attached scrap. This allows you to
attach a large amount of text to an item. The `V' for view
command will search for and display the scrap attached to the
item.
The items can be sorted to more easily see which items you should
deal with first.
Press P for print to print either part of or the entire list on
the your printer. You may select one of four print options:
Print all items in the ToDo list. Print items in the ToDo list
from the top down to and including the highlighted item. Print
items in the ToDo list from the highlighted item to the
bottom of the list. Or print all items that are due either
today or on an earlier date.
Use F for find, or F3, to locate a particular ToDo entry. Enter
something to look for in the To Do description field. The
search is from the highlight bar downwards. The search is case
insensitive.
Press Escape to exit the ToDo list tool and return to Scraps.
Each entry in the list has six fields that can be entered.
S C R A P S Page: 21
First is the description of what it is that has to be done. Next
is the date at which this task is due. This is for reference
only. Following that is a single character indicating the
priority of this item.
The `who' field takes a three character string indicating who
this is involved in this item. This is for reference only.
The created date field is automatically set to the date the item
is created. It is for reference only. It can be changed, but
this is generally not reasonable.
Lastly is the `attach scrap' tick box. If you tick this box then
a scrap will be attached to this item. The attached scrap can
then be located by pressing `V' for view while the selection bar
is on that item.
You may either attach one of the scraps currently in the Group or
you may attach the next NEW scrap created, whenever that might
be.
When you decide to attach a scrap to a to do list entry you must
select how you are going to specify which scrap to attach to this
item. You may either attach a scrap that is currently in this
group or you may attach the next new scrap.
If you select next new scrap then the next time you save a NEW
scrap it will be attached to this item. It must be a NEW scrap,
not re-saving an old one, for this to work.
You can sort the to do list by description, due date, priority or
who fields. There is both a primary and secondary sort key,
entries with identical primary keys will be sorted by the
secondary key.
Once sorted the list will then stay sorted but may become
disorder due to additions and deletions, select the sort command
again to bring it into sorted order.
S C R A P S Page: 22
SECTION FOUR
"Advanced features"
Import and Export
-----------------
Scraps supports Importing and Exporting of data at two levels.
At a low level you can import and export text from a single
scrap. At the high level you can import and export whole groups
consisting of multiple scraps.
Import Scrap
------------
To import data from a text file into a scrap use the "Import text
file at cursor" command from the Edit menu. The data is placed
at the cursor position; roughly as though you had typed it in
yourself.
The file you specify may be an ASCII file or a word processor
file. See the section on "Word processor files" for details.
Export Scrap
------------
To export text from a scrap, mark it as a block using the "Mark a
block of text" command and then the "Write marked block to text
file", both on the Edit menu.
The resultant file will be a plain ASCII text file image of the
block you marked.
Export Group
------------
To export all the scraps in the current group to a text file use
"Export group to text file" from the Group menu. You must
specify the name of the file into which the text is to be saved,
a "Scrap separator string" and whether you want to "Include
settings".
The scraps will be saved into the named text file with each one
separated from the next by a line consisting of the separator
string. If "Include settings" is on then special lines will also
be included to show the various settings of each scrap.
A file formatted in this way, with settings on, can be directly
imported into Scraps and will retaining all dates and setting
information. This provides a convenient way of transferring
scraps data from your system to a colleague's system without
loosing important date or setting information.
S C R A P S Page: 23
The file generated by Group Export will be a plain ASCII text
file.
Import Group
------------
To import a group of scraps from a text file use the "Import
group from text file" command from the Group menu. You must
specify the file name of the text to be imported and a separator
string. The two options "Include separator in scrap" and "Read
settings" may be set on or off.
The separator string is a piece of text that indicates the end of
each scrap in the file. If include separator is on then the
separator is included in the scrap otherwise it is deleted but
anything else on that line is retained as part of the scrap.
If read settings is on then Scraps will check for the special
settings lines created by Group Export and set the settings of
the new scraps appropriately.
You may specify DOS `wild card' characters, `*' and `?', in the
file name field when using this command. Scraps will read in
each file that matches the file specification. If the separator
scrap does not occur in the files then you will end up with one
file in each scrap.
Normally when you specify a wild card for a file name and then
press the Enter key Scraps will show a list of matching files for
you to pick from.
To avoid this, as you want to do when you are actually specifying
a group of files, use the Tab key to move to the next field of
the Group Import dialogue box before pressing Enter.
Import ScrFIX file
------------------
If the file you are importing was created using the ScrFIX
utility, and if it contains ToDo or Appointment data, then you
will be prompted to import that data or to discard it.
S C R A P S Page: 24
Importing YOUR information
--------------------------
You get the best out of Scraps when there is a lot of information
stored in it. Of course as a regular computer user you already
have a lot of information on your system.
So the trick is to get that information into Scraps as soon as
you can and with the minimum effort.
Exactly how you do this depends upon how your information is
stored. No universal directions can be given but here are some
examples which include general tips.
dBase phone directory
---------------------
A lot of people have names, addresses and telephone numbers in
dBase format files. Those are the database files with names
ending .DBF that are generated by dBase and compatible programs.
If this data is stored in Scraps instead you gain greater
flexibility, easier searching, association with other information
and the use of the telephone dialer.
The easiest way of transferring .DBF information to Scraps is to
use the LABEL FORM .. TO FILE .. command to create a text file
containing the records.
So that you will be able to import the file using the Import
Group command put a unique string at the bottom of each record.
So that you can find the information when you want it also
include the field names.
For example, create a label format of one label across with
contents along the lines of;
+------------------------------------------------+
| Label contents 1: "Name: "+NAME |
| 2: "Phone: "+PHONE |
| 3: "Address: "+ADDRESS1 |
| 4: ADDRESS2 |
| 5: "~" |
+------------------------------------------------+
The last line contains the "~" or squiggle character, the
character Scraps uses as the default separator string for Group
Import/Export.
Use this label form to create a text file;
LABEL FORM <LabelFileName> ALL TO FILE <filename>
S C R A P S Page: 25
The text file generated will look like this;
Name: John Smith
Phone: 123 456
Address: 1 The High Street
Middle Town
~
Name: Mary Doe
Phone: 234 467
Address: 2 Main Street
Central City
~
Name: Jane Brown
Phone: 345 678
|
|
And so on.
Then from within Scraps use the Group Import command and specify
the <filename> you created using dBase and "~" (a squiggle) as
the separator string. The result will be a group of scraps each
containing a single name and address.
Word processor files
--------------------
Notes stored in word processor files are a common way of dealing
with random textual information. Of course Scraps does this a
lot better with its ability to deal with whole groups of scraps
at a time.
The Group Import command can import several word processor file
formats directly. The supported word processor file formats are
WordStar, WordPerfect, Windows Write/Microsoft Word and XyWrite.
Plain ASCII text files are also supported.
Any number of files can be imported at one time by specifying a
wild card name when Group Importing. Of course the file names
must be arranged so only those files you want imported match the
wild card you specify.
Files may contain a single scrap or multiple scraps if they are
separated by a separator string, the default is the "~" or
squiggle character.
Scraps automatically detects the type of each file so different
files matching a wild card do not need to all be of the same
type.
S C R A P S Page: 26
Security
--------
Scraps provides two security measures: encryption of scraps and
password protection of access to the program.
Disclaimer
THESE ARE STRICTLY `CASUAL' SECURITY MEASURES AND SHOULD NOT BE
CONSIDERED AS A MEANS OF MAINTAINING ANY SIGNIFICANT DEGREE OF
PRIVACY.
Scraps encryption provides protection against people `peeking' at
your data either by running Scraps while you are away from your
machine or by using a file viewer to examine SCRAPS.DAT.
Password
--------
From the Setup security dialogue box it is possible to specify a
password. If a password is specified then Scraps will prompt for
that password when it first runs and require that it be entered
correctly before it continues.
Passwords are not case sensitive. Passwords can contain any
printable characters including spaces and punctuation and can be
up to 36 characters long.
Passwords are recorded, in encrypted form, in the SCRAPS.DAT
file.
If the password field is left blank then Scraps runs without
asking for a password.
Scrap encryption
----------------
Each scrap has an Encryption setting which may be either on or
off. The default is specified in the Setup security dialogue
box.
When the encrypt setting of a scrap is on, Scraps will save the
text of the scrap in loosely encrypted form instead of as plain
text. The encryption process does not effect your finding,
viewing or editing the scrap in any way.
S C R A P S Page: 27
Projects
--------
Scraps uses a concept called `projects' to give you greater
control over how your information is organized.
Each scrap you enter can be assigned to a particular project,
think of projects as different categories. You might for example
have different categories for work and personal scraps. The term
`projects' of course comes from the fact that this is a good way
of separating information on different projects that you might
have running in parallel.
Before you can use projects you need to give names to the
different project numbers. Use the Setup/Project names edit
dialogue box. There are a maximum of 20 projects each of which
can be given a different name.
Each project can be either active or not active, by default all
projects are active.
When a project is not active then all scraps belonging to that
project become un-findable, scraps will treat them as though they
do not exist.
The main purpose of this is to be able to "turn off" an entire
category of scraps. You might want to do this for two reasons;
either because you are getting a lot of `false positives' (for
example searching for "apple" and finding things about the
computer when you wanted to know about the fruit) or because you
have a very large category that you don't want Scraps to waste
time searching.
You can assign a scrap to a particular project by using the
Scrap/Settings dialogue box. To set a whole Group of scraps to a
particular project use the Group/Override settings function.
To activate or deactivate a project use the Setup/Active projects
edit. Beside each project is a tick box which is marked `X' for
active projects.
Each scrap is assigned to a project by number, the name is only
for your convenience.
S C R A P S Page: 28
Application launcher
--------------------
The Tools\Launch Application tool provides a way to run any
program from within Scraps.
You may add various programs to the launcher menu then select
them from the menu to run them.
Each program has a two letter code. Type this code to select the
program or move the selection bar using the cursor keys then
press the Enter key.
Select AP to add a new program, CP to change an existing program
or DP to delete a program from the launcher menu.
When adding a new program you must enter two letters that will be
used to select the program from the launch menu.
Then a descriptive name of the program. Next is the name of the
program file to be run, an .EXE, .COM or .BAT file. May include
the full path as in C:\PATH\FILENAME.EXE.
Finally enter the directory to change to before running the
program. For example C:\PATH.
When an application is selected first Scraps will swap itself out
to EMS or disk, change to the indicated directory for that
application then run the program.
While running a program through the launcher you may use the
PrintScreen button as with the DOS shell to capture the text
screen to the Editor Clipboard.
S C R A P S Page: 29
SECTION FIVE
"Reference material"
Scraps with task switchers
--------------------------
Scraps is most useful as a tool if it is constantly available
whenever you are using your computer. Unfortunately PCs can
normally only run one program at a time.
There are, however, some systems that allow you to have two or
more programs loaded into memory at the same time so that you may
switch between them nearly instantly. These systems are known as
Task Switchers. Other programs allow not only this but also for
more than one program to run at the same time. These are called
multitaskers; for our purposes they are the same.
Using Scraps with one of these systems offers many advantages.
If you have such a system then it may be worth using Scraps with
it.
Scraps is supplied with configuration files for use with two such
systems; the file SC-PIF.DVP is for DESQview while the file
SCRAPS.PIF is for Windows.
Other programs such as Software Carousel, Back&Forth and
WordPerfect Office can also provide similar abilities. MS-DOS
5.0 Shell also includes a task switcher.
When setting up these systems for use with Scraps you may need to
know a few things about the technical requirements of Scraps.
You need refer to these points only if the information is
demanded by your task switcher configuration.
* Scraps normally writes directly to the screen and so cannot
be run "in a small window". You can alter the normal Scraps
behavior to BIOS video from the Scraps SetUp menu but will suffer
a reduction in display speed.
* Scraps needs at least 300K of RAM to run. If you want to
process very large scraps then you may wish to give Scraps up to
640K to work in.
* Scraps will use the communications (COM) port if you are
using the AutoDialer tool.
* Scraps operation should not be terminated except by using
the Scraps Exit option. e.g. "Don't allow close window"
S C R A P S Page: 30
Country specific settings
-------------------------
For those outside the DOS default country of U.S.A. Scraps will
configure itself according to the COUNTY=<CountryCode> line in
the CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk.
This setting allows DOS and Scraps, as well as many other
programs, to configure date, time and number formats to that used
in your country.
Consult a DOS reference book for more details on the COUNTRY=
settings.
You may override the date setting using the option Setup/Country
info. Tick the override box ON and select either M/D/YY, D/M/YY
or YY/M/D order.
If you are outside the USA then it is better to use the COUNTRY=
system as Scraps will not only configure the date ORDER, but also
the date, time, decimal and thousands place separator characters.
S C R A P S Page: 31
The Menus
---------
Scraps is a menu driven program. All functions are available
through one of the main menus.
For the experienced user there are also keyboard and mouse
shortcuts to provide easy access to common functions without
going through menus.
Activate the menus by pressing Alt-n where n is the highlighted
letter in the name of the menu at the top of the screen. Alt-E
is for the Edit menu, Alt-F for the Find menu and so on.
Once a menu is activated choose one of the options either by
moving the selection bar to the desired option and pressing the
Enter key, or by typing the highlighted letter in the option
name.
Commonly used menu options have keyboard shortcuts listed on the
right of the menu. For example Find by word is linked to the F2
key. You can access functions that have keyboard shortcuts by
pressing the keyboard shortcut key either while editing or while
any menu is active.
Once a menu is active you can use the left and right arrow keys
to move to other menus. You may also Alt-n as appropriate to
move directly to another menu.
To abort a menu without choosing an option press the Esc key.
Mouse users can access menus and options by clicking on them with
the left mouse button. They can also use the highlighted options
in the base bar at the bottom of the screen by clicking on them
with the left mouse button. The right mouse button escapes or
cancels.
Menu options
------------
This section of the manual contains discussions of some of the
menus and menu options available in Scraps. Basic details of
what each does are not included, instead consult the on-line
context sensitive help.
To find out about a menu option select that option and press the
F1 key for help. If an option leads to a dialogue box with
several fields then you may need to use the F1 key on each field
to learn all of the details.
S C R A P S Page: 32
Edit menu
---------
The edit menus provides functions for editing the scrap which is
currently shown on the screen. They will not function if the
scrap is `protected'. See the Scrap/Settings option to toggle
protection.
* Block operations
These options provide for block operations on text. While the
block is highlighted you may delete, copy or write it to a file.
If copied to the clipboard the paste command can be used to paste
the block back into this or another scrap. Text deleted with the
Delete block command is also placed onto the clipboard for later
pasting.
Results from the calculator can also be transferred into scraps
via the clipboard and the paste command.
* Import text file at cursor...
See the manual section on importing for more on how this command
allows you to import text or word processor files directly into a
scrap.
Find menu
---------
The find menu provides various commands that search for scraps
and loads matching scraps into a group for viewing and
manipulating. All finds excludes those scraps belonging to
projects that have been de-activated. See the section on projects
for details.
Scrap menu
----------
The scrap menu controls the particular scrap shown on the screen.
Group menu
----------
The group menu allows manipulation and management of scraps as a
group. A group of scraps is creates as a result of a find
command, all scraps matching the find become a group. New scraps
that are saved or imported are added to the current group.
S C R A P S Page: 33
* Import/Export
The main import and export functions these read and write ASCII
files which contain the full text of scraps, special settings
indicators and separators between scraps. The import command can
also read various word processor file formats. See the section of
the manual about import/export.
Tools
-----
The Scraps Tools menu gives access to a set of general purpose
functions which are not directly related to scraps but which you
may find useful to have readily at hand while working on your
scraps.
* Calculator
The NumLock on the keyboard is forced on while in the calculator
to make it easier to use the numeric keypad with the calculator.
It returns to its original state when you exit the calculator.
The Tab key will move the cursor between the window showing the
tape and the window in which you enter your equations. You can
also click on those windows with the mouse.
Similarly the up and down arrow keys can be used to move the
cursor from one window to the other.
The tape can be of any length though only a small portion is
shown at a time. You can scroll easily in it and even type in
notes and annotation using the same keystrokes as you do in the
scraps editor.
When you exit the calculator, either by pressing the Esc key or
by clicking the right mouse button, you have the option of
copying the tape onto the clipboard.
If you choose to save the tape then you can use the Paste command
from the Editor menu to paste the tape into the scrap.
* Phone dialer
The automatic telephone dialer will use your modem to dial a
specified telephone number. The telephone number can be picked
out of the text of a scrap by placing the cursor on the number
before you pull down the Tools menu.
S C R A P S Page: 34
The Setup autodialer dialogue box must be set up correctly for
this to work.
After dialing the number you can click OK to make the modem hang
up, either when the other party answers or if you want to abort
the call.
The modem init string is used to reset the modem before dialing.
It is also used to reset the modem to hang up the telephone line.
* DOS Shell
The DOS shell gives you access to DOS. When selected as much as
possible of the Scraps program is swapped out to EMS memory or
disk space to make room for a DOS shell.
You can perform any DOS function while in the DOS shell except
load a TSR program such as PRINT.COM or SideKick.
Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to Scraps.
SetUp menu
----------
There are seven options on the SetUp menu, each one leads to a
dialogue box of settings for you to adjust.
S C R A P S Page: 35
Error messages
--------------
Scraps may issue various warnings or error messages during normal
operation. Most of these are self explanatory, those that might
require additional explanation are listed here. Most users will
never see any of these messages.
If an error is caused by a substantial amount of damage to the
Scraps data file then it will be necessary to use the ScrFIX
utility to retrieve your data. See the next section for details
on ScrFIX.
* Access to SCRAPS.DAT denied!
The SCRAPS.DAT file is unavailable, probably because it has been
opened by a program on another workstation of a LAN or in another
window of a multitasker. Close that other task then try again.
If you are using the ScrDV or ScrWIN module then that may be what
has the data file open, if so try again in a few moments. If you
need to use Scraps on a LAN then consider purchasing a Scraps for
LAN multi-user package.
* Comm port error
While trying to use the autodialer Scraps was unable to
initialize the communications port. Either something is wrong
with the communications port or you have specified the wrong port
in SetUp Dialer. Check that you specified the correct port and
if so check the port.
* Executable file damaged!
The Scraps program file, SCRAPS.COM, has been damaged. This may
indicate that your system has been infected by a virus. Scraps
will take suitable precautions. Reboot your system and get a new
copy of the Scraps program from your distribution disk or
archive.
* Failure reading ASCII file!
Scraps was unable to read the ASCII file you specified. Possibly
you specified a non-existent file name. Make sure you specify a
valid file name.
S C R A P S Page: 36
* Failure writing ASCII file!
Scraps was unable to write to the ASCII file name you specified.
Possibly you specified a non-existent subdirectory or you
included wildcards (*, ?) in the file name. Make sure you specify
a valid file name.
* File already exists. Aborting.
You attempted to overwrite an existing file. Choose another file
name.
* File corrupted: BADFID
* File corrupted: BADSIG
* File corrupted: FIDNEG
* File corrupted: FSCE
There is a serious problem with the data file. It has become
corrupted beyond the ability of Scraps to understand it. You'll
need to use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover
your information.
* File problem: ESLOOP
There is a minor problem with the data file, probably caused by
rebooting the computer while Scraps was writing to the data file.
The error message will probably appear several times. You should
use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover your
information.
* File error!
Scraps had a problem with the data file. If it happens
repeatedly you should use the SCRFIX utility to process the file
and recover your information.
* Not enough memory to load page!
There is not enough memory to load a scrap. You are probably
running Scraps in a multitasking partition that is too small. Try
increasing the amount of memory allocated to Scraps. Consider
splitting large scraps into several smaller ones.
* Protected scrap, cannot delete!
You tried to delete a scrap that has the Protected setting.
Remove the protected setting before trying again.
S C R A P S Page: 37
* Read error: FHED
There is a serious problem with the data file. It has become
corrupted beyond the ability of Scraps to understand it. You'll
need to use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover
your information.
* Unable to allocate swap space
You tried to shell to DOS but there was not enough space in EMS
memory or on the disk drive to hold the necessary swap file.
Make more room on the disk or in EMS memory before trying again.
* Unable to fully index this scrap
The scrap you are saving is particularly long and Scraps is
unable to make index entries for the whole scrap. Only the first
two thousand words are indexed. Only indexed words are examined
by the Find command. Any scrap long enough to cause this error
can probably be sensibly cut into two or more small scraps.
S C R A P S Page: 38
ScrFix utility
--------------
Scraps is most useful when a lot of information is stored in it.
This makes the Scraps data file quite valuable; if you lost the
file then you might have a lengthy job recovering the information
manually.
Making regular backups of not only Scraps data but your whole
hard disk is good computing practice, yet it frequently won't
save you when you really need it.
Hard disk crashes, electrical or mechanical failures, software
conflicts, network crashes: all these things could lead to
damaged data files.
To deal with the more common problems that might befall your
Scraps data the ScrFix utility is supplied with the Scraps
program.
Unlike Scraps this utility can read a SCRAPS.DAT data file even
if it has been badly damaged. It hunts through the file and
spots all of the intact text of scraps and saves them into a text
file.
This text file can then be imported into a new copy of Scraps
using the Group Import command.
The existence of ScrFix should not be taken to suggest that the
Scraps data file is easily damaged. It is no more likely that
the Scraps data file be damaged than your database files, spread
sheet files or any other complex files. Unlike the files from
those other application programs the Scraps data file is
deliberately designed to allow recovery of data should damage
occur.
Usage:
From the DOS prompt move to the Scraps directory and enter:
SCRFIX SCRAPS.DAT > SCRFIX.TXT
This creates a TEXT file called SCRFIX.TXT with all the savable
data from your SCRAPS.DAT.
First use a file viewer to check that SCRFIX.TXT contains the
recovered information.
Then erase the damaged SCRAPS.DAT and run Scraps to make a fresh
blank SCRAPS.DAT.
Use Group Import to import the data from SCRFIX.TXT.
S C R A P S Page: 39
The file created by ScrFix uses the characters ~!~ (squiggle,
exclamation mark, squiggle) as a separator between scraps.
Make sure that the "Scrap separator string:" is ~!~ and that
"Include separator in scrap" is off and "Read settings" is on
when you Group Import the file.
When importing a file created by ScrFIX Scraps will detect the
any ToDo-list and Appointment Calendar information that was
recovered by ScrFIX and will import that as well.
When you have finished with it erase the SCRFIX.TXT file. You
may choose to copy it to a floppy disk first to provide an
additional backup copy of your data. One can never have too many
backups.
ScrFIX /F switch
----------------
The ScrFIX utility includes an additional function to de-
convolute and merge the free space chain in a Scraps data file.
From the DOS prompt move to the Scraps directory and enter:
SCRFIX SCRAPS.DAT /F
It is useful to do this occasionally, particularly after having
deleted a large number of entries from a Scraps data file.
Optimizing SCRAPS.DAT
---------------------
It is possible to improve performance of a large and old Scraps
system by exporting all the scraps to a text file, deleting all
scraps, running the ScrFIX SCRAPS.DAT /F option outlined above,
then importing the scraps from the text file. NOTE This is a
quite "technical" task, do not undertake it unless you feel you
understand these instructions fully.
Do take full backups of your SCRAPS.DAT by copying it to a floppy
disk before trying this so that you can restore the file should
anything go wrong.
S C R A P S Page: 40
Support
-------
If you have any difficulties with Scraps or any comments or
suggestions you may drop the author a line at the address below.
Scraps is very much a USER supported package. All your comments,
both positive and negative, on the program, packaging,
distribution or anything else are very welcome.
In particular if you found that Scraps was nearly, but not quite,
what you are looking please let the author know. Many things can
be easily added if they are requested.
Mail: (Please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope if you
would like a direct reply)
Scraps
P.O. Box 2,
Cheung Chau,
Hong Kong.
The author makes every attempt to respond to all enquiries but
registered users will have priority.
If you are reporting a problem don't forget to include as much
information as possible about your computer system and about the
exact conditions that produced the problem.
If the problem relates to importing a file then consider sending
that file on a floppy disk; doing so will greatly increase the
chance that the author will be able to rectify the problem.
Registered users please state your registration code.
S C R A P S Page: 41
The Interface
-------------
Scraps uses a form of the Common User Access (CUA) interface that
is increasingly becoming the standard for all programs. This
interfaces is based largely on "pull down menus" and "dialogue
boxes".
If you are not familiar with this kind of interface then reading
this section will explain the key features of how it is operated.
Being familiar with your user interface can make the difference
between using this (or any other program) productively and on it
being a drain on your time.
The Editor
----------
Scraps are written using the built-in editor. This is a very
simple text editor with some word-processor-like features. It is
not intended to replace your word processor; rather it is meant
for quick note taking. Longer pieces of text can be prepared in
a full text editor or word processor and imported into Scraps.
The Mouse
---------
Throughout Scraps the mouse is used as a pointing device. The
left button selects things that are being pointed to, either by
pressing it, clicking it or double clicking it. The right button
cancels things.
When this manual refers to `clicking' on something, it means
moving the mouse until the highlighted mouse cursor on the screen
is on the thing to be clicked then pressing and quickly releasing
the mouse button. Double clicking is the same except you must
press, release then press and release the button again.
While you are typing a scrap the mouse cursor will be turned off
to avoid distracting you. Moving the mouse or clicking either
mouse button will restore it.
The Menus
---------
The Scraps commands are all menu based. Along the top of the
screen is a highlighted bar showing the names of all the
available menus.
S C R A P S Page: 42
In the name of each option one letter is high-lighted, hold down
the Alt key and press the key on your keyboard corresponding to
the high-lighted letter to pull down the menu.
This is a typical menu. It is the Edit menu which is pulled down
by holding down the Alt key and pressing the E key.
+-------------------------------------------+
| Mark a block of text F10 |
| Delete marked block Alt-F10 |
| Copy marked block to clipboard Ctrl-F10 |
| Paste from clipboard to cursor Shft-F10 |
| Write marked block to text file |
| View clipboard |
| Import text file at cursor F5 |
| Insert Now date/time at cursor |
+-------------------------------------------+
Each line describes one option available from this menu.
One line will be high-lighted by a selection bar. You can move
the selection bar up and down with the up and down arrow keys.
Pressing the up key while on the first option moves the selection
bar to the last option, and visa versa with the down key on the
last option.
To select an option either move the bar to the option and press
the Enter key or press the key corresponding to the high-lighted
letter in the name of the option. This latter way of selecting
an option works regardless of where the selection bar is.
When there is a key or key combination specified at the right of
an option this indicates a Keyboard Shortcut. Pressing this
keyboard combination will select the command while on any menu,
or in the Editor, without the need to pull down the menu first.
Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time. It is a good idea
to remember at least the most commonly used ones.
Use the left and right arrow keys to move to different menus.
The Escape key will cancel the menu and return you to the scrap
editor.
Dialogue boxes
--------------
When using the various commands selected from the menus in Scraps
you will often see "Dialogue boxes". These are boxes that appear
in the middle of the screen with places for you to select options
and specify things such as words, dates or file names.
S C R A P S Page: 43
For example this is the SetUp Scraps dialogue box. If you pick
the SetUp Scraps option from the SetUp menu this dialogue box is
displayed.
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Scraps program SetUp options |
| |
| [ ] Check for reminders at startup |
| |
| [X] Expert mode; less prompts |
| |
| Use BIOS Video writes: |
| (+) No ( ) Yes ( ) Only in DV |
| |
| Colors: |
| (+) Force Mono ( ) Force Color ( ) Autoselect |
| |
| #========# +--------+ |
| H OK H | Cancel | |
| #========# +--------+ |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
There are five fields in this box and each one allows you to make
a choice. The flashing cursor indicates which field is selected.
When a dialogue box first appears it is normally the first field
that is selected.
Use the Tab key to move to the next field or Shift-Tab to move to
the previous field. If you go beyond the last of the fields you
will return to the first field and visa versa.
You can also select a field that is not selected by clicking on
it with the mouse. If the field is already selected then clicking
with the mouse will change its value.
When you have selected a field, and the flashing cursor is on
that field, you can change the content of that field.
The first field is "[ ] Check for reminders at startup". This is
a tick box field.
Tick box fields have a box which may or may not contain a cross
to show that the field is active.
The example above is shown OFF; when this option is ON an `X'
appears. Turn the X on and off by using the space bar. Clicking
on the field with the mouse also turns the X on and off.
The next field is also a tick box. This one is ON.
S C R A P S Page: 44
The next field is:
"Use BIOS Video writes:
(+) No ( ) Yes ( ) Only in DV"
This is an item selector or "radio button" field. Like the
buttons on a car radio only one `button' can be active at a time.
In this example the `No' button is active.
Press the space bar to change to the next button. Keep pressing
the space bar until you have the correct button pressed. You can
click with a mouse to select a button.
The last field is a set of selection buttons. The box with the
double line around it is the default.
#========# +--------+
H OK H | Cancel |
#========# +--------+
Press Enter to select the default, OK, or press the Tab key to
move the default to Cancel and press Enter there. Or type `O' or
`C' to select OK or Cancel.
When the options are OK and Cancel pressing Esc is the same as
picking Cancel. You can click these buttons with a mouse.
Every dialogue box has at least one of these selection buttons.
The only way to leave a dialogue box is to pick one of the
selection buttons or to press the Escape key.
Some fields allow you to type in information, an example of this
is the first field in the Find dialogue box that you see when you
pick the Find command.
+--------------------------------------+
| Find words: |
| ___________________________________ |
| Combine words with AND or OR. |
| Use UpArrow for previous find words. |
| |
| #========# +--------+ |
| H OK H | Cancel | |
| #========# +--------+ |
+--------------------------------------+
You can type anything you want into the field; provided, of
course, that it makes sense to the command.
A special form of this is the file selection field as in the
Import text file at cursor command.
S C R A P S Page: 45
+--------------------------------------+
| Import text file to cursor |
| |
| File name: |
| C:\TP\_____________________________ |
| |
| #========# +--------+ |
| H OK H | Cancel | |
| #========# +--------+ |
+--------------------------------------+
In such a field if you press Enter with either a wild card or a
directory name with a trailing back slash in the field then a
file selection box will pop up with all files in that directory
or that match that wild card.
If you want to leave a wild card in the field, such as when using
the Group Import command, then enter your wild card and move to
the next field with the Tab key.
If you press Enter or double click with the mouse while there is
a wild card in the file name a file selection box will appear.
You can move the highlight cursor to any file using the arrow
keys or by clicking on the file name with the mouse. Press Enter
or double click on a file name to select a file.
Press the Escape key or click the right mouse button to exit the
file selection box without choosing a file.
S C R A P S Page: 46
Another kind of string field is the date field. This is present
on the Find by date range and the Set reminder date dialogue
boxes.
The full date format is M-D-YY HH:MM with the time in 24 hour
`military' format. You can, however, enter the date more roughly
and Scraps will use its `fuzzy date' system to turn it into a
full date.
If you are in a country other than the USA then the date format
may be different. Slashes are treated the same as hyphens.
Enter For
----- ---
1 First of this month
1-1 First of January this year
4/15 Fifteenth of April this year
--92 First of January 1992
As soon as you move to another field, such as by pressing Enter,
the full date will be displayed. If you want to enter a time you
then have to go back and edit the time field.
You may also select the date by using the pop-up calendar.
Either press F10 or click on the field with the mouse to display
this calendar. Choose the date you want and press enter or
double click on it.
S C R A P S Page: 47
Registering
-----------
Scraps is a 'Shareware' or user supported package. This means
that it is a commercial copyrighted program which is being
distributed using the Shareware system.
Shareware is a try-before-you-buy system. You have 30 days in
which to use this program to see if you like it. If, after the
trial period, you decide to continue using the program you need
to pay the registration fee.
Paying this fee not only helps support the author, who receives
nothing unless you register, but also gives you a perpetual legal
licence to use the program.
If you find the program is not to your liking then you may just
stop using it.
You may give copies of this program to your friends and
associates, upload it to bulletin boards or other on-line
services. The only requirement is that you must distribute the
whole package together; either on one set of disks or in one set
of archives.
By paying for Shareware you support this system of software
distribution. A system that allows you to evaluate software and
then purchase at low cost.
When you pay your registration fee you will receive a
registration code which, when entered into Scraps, will remove
the reminders to register.
The license you receive when you register covers the current and
all future versions of Scraps.
Registration fees:
HK Dollar US Dollar GB Pound
----------------------------------------------------------
A) Registration only: | $150 | $25 | GB£18
----------------------------------------------------------
B) Registration and disk | | |
with latest version: | $250 | $37 | GB£25
----------------------------------------------------------
C) Recalculating lost | | |
registration code: | $50 | $11 | GB£9
-----------------------------------------------------------
Note: Payment is cheapest in HK$ due to bank charges incurred in
converting foreign currency cheques.
S C R A P S Page: 48
Disks: Scraps comes on your choice of two 5.25 inch 360K disks
or one 3.5 inch 740K disk.
Name: Your registration code is matched to your name. Please
make sure you print your name clearly exactly as you want it
displayed in the Scraps registration box.
If you loose your registration code then send your name and
address, exactly as you sent when registering, together with the
recalculation fee to receive a copy of your registration code.
Sysop deal
----------
If you are the System Operator of a BBS or similar service you
are eligible for the Sysop deal that gives 50% discount. Only
one Sysop registration is accepted per BBS.
To take advantage of this offer you must a) make Scraps available
for download from your system by all normal users, b) give the
author normal access to your system and c) have on-line in your
files list a full description of Scraps. You may use the
following or some appropriate part extracted from this manual
which is of similar or greater length to this extract:
"Scraps Freeform Personal Information Manager. Pull-down menu
operated free text database with powerful search functions.
Reminders and alarms associated with text entries. DV alarms, WIN
alarms. Integrated useful tools; calculator, appointment
calendar, phone dialer, DOS shell, ToDo list, Application
Launcher. Full mouse support. Import/export data. Read word
processor files directly. Very simple to use. Full Context
Sensitive Help. Shareware. No Crippled features."
Send a Print-Screen screen dump of a session with your BBS
showing this description together with your registration fee
marked clearly "Sysop deal", together with a user logon name and
password for the author.
S C R A P S Page: 49
Commercial Scraps
-----------------
Scraps is now also available as a commercial retail package.
While the core programs and functions are the same in Shareware
and Commercial Scraps the commercial package has these added
features.
* Deleted Scraps are logged to an ARCHIVE text file to provide
protection against accidental deletes.
* Print group command.
* Color override file COLOR.DAT. Allows personalized colors in
Scraps.
* Editor "undo" command to abandon edits and return to saved
scrap.
* Printing appointments
There is also a LAN version of Commercial Scraps which supports
multiple user files for separate users as well as MULTI-USER
READ-ONLY mode to allow multiple users to access the same Scraps
file simultaneously. The LAN version is only available as a
commercial package. Write for details.
Write for details of Commercial Scrap Reseller Policies. We
offer good volume discounts and have a favourable return policy.
NOTE THIS ONLY APPLIES TO *COMMERCIAL* SCRAPS - NOT TO SHAREWARE
SCRAPS.
Reseller Quantity Discounts: (Recommended Retail Price: HK$450)
Units Discount Price
1 20% $360.00
2-5 35% $292.50
6-20 45% $247.50
21-49 50% $225.00
50- 55% $202.50
S C R A P S Page: 50
S C R A P S R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M v2.0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Name __________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
____________________
E-Mail address: _________________________________________
(FidoNet, internet/UUCP, CIS)
HK Dollar US Dollar GB Pound
---------------------------------------------------------------
Registration only: | HK$150 | US$25 | GB £18
---------------------------------------------------------------
Registration and disk | | |
with latest version: | HK$250 | US$37 | GB £25
---------------------------------------------------------------
Recalculating lost | | |
registration code: | HK$50 | US$11 | GB £9
---------------------------------------------------------------
Disk Size : | 5.25 inch | 3.5 inch
---------------------------------------------------------------
Please circle appropriate choices above.
Number of cheque or draft: ______________________
For Sysop Discount only: include your BBS details overleaf.
Please send this form together with cheque or bank draft to:
Scraps, P.O. Box 2,
Cheung Chau, Hong Kong.
Make cheque or bank draft payable to "Raymond Lowe".
------------
Allow 2-3 weeks for processing registrations.
o X o
Please include any comments or suggestions concerning Scraps
overleaf.
The author would appreciate knowing from where you obtained your
copy of Scraps. This will aid him in making sure that new
versions are made available through the same channels.
code 1 - Please do not edit this form
S C R A P S Page: 51
